Challenges Moos Must Overcome

[Camcon2016]

The coach.
Riley ranks somewhere around the 300th in alll time career winning percentages. Urban ranks number 3
The state
Nebraska ranks 38th in population. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan rank around 6th, 7th and 8th
Budget
We sit pretty decent around 22 nd but top tier teams have 50 percent more money to work with.
Weather is not the greatest either
He does inherit a loyal and intelligent fan base and rich tradition. The nation's best strength program until we decided to share that with EVERYone over the last couple decades
IMO a good coach is just a start. He will need to think outside the box to overcome the other challenges. Building a dome on top of memorial stadium might be a little over the top ( pun intended) but we need some new ideas to attract recruits and out of state walk ons

 

[TheNewNU_rivals50820]

The coach.
Riley ranks somewhere around the 300th in alll time career winning percentages. Urban ranks number 3
The state
Nebraska ranks 38th in population. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan rank around 6th, 7th and 8th
Budget
We sit pretty decent around 22 nd but top tier teams have 50 percent more money to work with.
Weather is not the greatest either
He does inherit a loyal and intelligent fan base and rich tradition. The nation's best strength program until we decided to share that with EVERYone over the last couple decades
IMO a good coach is just a start. He will need to think outside the box to overcome the other challenges. Building a dome on top of memorial stadium might be a little over the top ( pun intended) but we need some new ideas to attract recruits and out of state walk ons

Moos had Wazzu in the top 10 when he left. I'm confident if anyone can get it done this man can. I hate to say it but this program needs a total reboot. Honor the Past. Live the Present. Create the Future

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

Sounds like a build up to excuses

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

The state
Nebraska ranks 38th in population. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan rank around 6th, 7th and 8th

I always find this interesting, though not to use as an excuse, but simply as information. Of the states and "districts" with fewer people than Nebraska in the 2010 census, none has a Power 5 university. To be accurate, the Census Bureau's latest numbers have Nebraska at 37 and West Virginia at 38, with virtually the same number of people (1.9 million in Nebraska and 1.83 million in West Virginia). So Nebraska and West Virginia are really comparable in that each state has just one Power 5 conference program, though West Virginia also has Marshall, a Group of 5 conference program.
Here are the other states by population rank:
39. Idaho (two FBS schools — one in the Mountain West, one switching to FCS)
40. Hawaii (one FBS school in the MWC)
41. Maine (no FBS school)
42. New Hampshire (no FBS school)
43. Rhode Island (no FBS school)
44. Montana (no FBS school)
45. Delaware (no FBS school)
46. South Dakota (no FBS school)
47. Alaska (no FBS school)
48. North Dakota (no FBS school)
49. Vermont (no FBS school)
50. D.C. (no FBS school)
51. Wyoming (one FBS school in the MWC)

Other states with population challenges include:
34. Utah (three FBS schools — one in the Pac-12, another analogous program at BYU, and one in the MWC).
33. Kansas (two FBS schools, both in the Big XII)
32. Arkansas (two FBS schools — one in the SEC and another in the Sun Belt)
31. Mississippi (three FBS schools — two in the SEC and another in CUSA)
30. Iowa (two FBS schools — one in the Big XII, one in the Big Ten)

Of course, Iowa is proximate to Illinois, a state with 12 million people, so that helps in the same way that Oklahoma is next to Texas, which has 20 million people.

Aside from overall population, the relative size of the university can be a factor. In the Big Ten, Nebraska is the second-smallest university by student enrollment, and the smallest public university. Northwestern, though having a smaller enrollment, has more money than everyone else. That means potentially fewer students filling seats on Saturday and a much smaller alumni base, which can have an impact on the athletic department's ability to raise money.

Here are the sizes of endowments at Big Ten universities:
Northwestern — $10.19 billion
Michigan — $9.74 billion
Penn State —$3.64 billion
Ohio State — $3.63 billion
Minnesota — $3.28 billion
Wisconsin — $2.42 billion
Purdue — $2.4 billion
Illinois — $2.29 billion
Michigan State — $2.28 billion
Indiana — $1.99 billion
Nebraska — $1.48 billion
Iowa — $1.26 billion
Rutgers — $1.08 billion
Maryland — $280 million (I have relatives who are alumni of Maryland; I'll talk to them about giving more.)

What can make up for that is our passion and commitment. But one might also conclude that Devaney's building of the program in the 1960s and Osborne's expansion of that program in the '70s, '80s and '90s is one of the greatest stories in the history of all college athletics. Oklahoma's success is comparable, but its proximity to Texas and its proclivity to chea . . . I mean, think outside the rule box . . . certainly helped Zero U.

 

[Camcon2016]

Sounds like a build up to excuses

You made me think about it for a minute but that was not my intention. There is no excuse for not addressing these issues better over the last 20 years. These things don't justify the past. I was looking at the future

 

[stonesak]

C'mon, we're the San Diego of the Big Ten!

 

[Huskercigar]

Is our weather worse than the rest of the B1G?

 

[stonesak]

Is our weather worse than the rest of the B1G?

It's a Tim Miles quote. I do think Lincoln has the highest average temperature of all the Big Ten Schools besides Maryland. We are the driest school though, I definitely remember hearing that.